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FinCEN Expands 314(a) Bank Information Sharing Program to Foreign Law Enforcement
By Brian Monroe
printThe U.S. Treasury Department issued rules Friday broadening the types of law enforcement data requests banks can receive to include queries from foreign officials and investigations tied to additional crimes. The final rule, issued by the department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), expands the use of U.S. Patriot Act Section 314 (a) requests and is largely the same as proposed regulations issued by the bureau in November. Bank lobbying groups, citing resource and privacy concerns, opposed the expansion of the data request powers. The rule allows foreign law enforcement agencies to send the requests, via diplomatic channels, to U.S. financial...
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